Improvement in base-burning fire-place heaters



w 1 MCDOWELL 2 shew-sheet 1.

Improvement in Base Burning Fire Place Heaters.

No. 121,185, Patented Nov. 21,1871.

mined/a v I f 'WILLlAM L. MCDOWELL.

Improvement in Base Burning Fire Place Heaters.

110. 121,185. Patented Nov. 21,18 7 1.

PATENT Orrron.

WILLIAM L. MCDOWELL, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN BASE-BURNING FIRE-PLACE HEATERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 121,185, dated November21,1871.

construction and operation of the same, referencebeinghad to theaccompanying drawing and to the letters of reference marked thereonmaking part of this specification.

The first part of my invention relates to a movable top or crown, soconstructed and applied upon the body of the stove that it can bereadily lifted off and on by hand at any time; the object of this partof my invention being to afford ,free and open access to the interior ofthe upper part of the fire-chamber for the twofold purpose offacilitating in attaching and detaching the smoke-flue pipe and damper,and in cleaning out the usual ashes, dust, &c., as occasion may fromtime to time require. The second part of my invention relates to theconstruction and arrangement of two connecting pairs of imperforatemetallic sliding shield-plates in two upper and two lower grooves,immediately behind and concentric with the respective curved grooves forthe sliding illuminating window-plates, in. such a manner that the saidtwo pairs of shield-plates can be slid backward and forward in thegrooves with facility; the object of this part of my in vention being toenable the operator to draw forward with facility the saidshield-plates, so as to cover the whole of the inner sides of theilluminatin g plates and protect the latter from smoke when necessary,and to slide the said shieldplates entirely back out of sight and out ofreach of the fire, and thus permit a free transmission of the light ofthe incandescent fuel in the firebox or cylinder through the wholeseries of the windows, which extend from one side to the other of theexposed curved front of the stove. The

third part of my invention relates to the construction and applicationof the perforated or V skeleton screen-plates, which form the front wallof the hot-air chamber of a fire-place stove, in such a manner thateither one or all of the plates can, at any time, be lifted andwithdrawn or replaced by hand with facility; the object of this part ofmy invention being to afford easy and instant access to the interior ofsaid chamber for the removal of dust, &c. The fourth part of myinvention relates to a mode of maintaining a closejoint between theupper end of the fuelcylinder or fire-box and the top plate of thesurrounding hot-air chamber or space in which the cylinder or fire-boxis located, by enlarging the usual opening in the plate, shortening thecylinder, and covering the surrounding space left be tween by a shortflanged cylinder which, while resting upon the plate, projects downwardabout two inches, more or less, around, in sliding contact with theinner side of the said fuel-cylinder or fire-box; the object of thispart of my invention being twofoldfirst, to allow a free expansion andcontraction in the length of the fire-box or cylinder, consequent uponits changing temperature; and, second, to facilitate in the withdrawaland renewal of the same, as occasion may require.

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a fire-place stove embodying myinvention. Fig. 2 is a central transverse section of the top or crown,and of the illuminating fire-chamber and sliding plates below the crown,and also of the escapefiue and valve. Fig. 3 is 'a horizontal section ofthe illuminating fire-chamber and of the hot-air space and flue behindit, the plane of the section cutting the fire-flue and its damper-valvelongitudinally through the center of the flue. Fig. at is a fractured,central, vertical section of the fuel-cylinder, the bottom plate of thefire-chamber, and the loose flanged short cylinder which connects thefuel-cylinder and the bottom plate of the fire-chamber together. Fig. 5is a fractured section of Fig. 3, enlarged to show more plainly the modeof connecting a pair of the sl1ieldplates behind the illuminatingwindow-plate. Fig. 6 is a plan View of the bottom plate of the hot-airchamber and of the grate, together with a plan view of theusually-removable hearth-plate and fender in front of the usualash-chamber below the hot-air chamber. Fig. 7 is a front elevation ofone of the skeleton or perforated screen-plates detached.

The crown A is segmental in the contour of its back and open undersides, the back a being closed and the under side entirely open; and thelower edge of the straight back a is made to slip accurately over anupright flange, b, of the top plate of the fire-chamber C, while thecurved front edge a at the bottom of said crown is made to slipaccurately against the one side of an upright flange, b, on the curvedfront edge of the said plate. The space between the two flanges I) b ofsaid plate being open there is, therefore, a free communication affordedbetween the said crownA and the fire-chamber (J below, when the crown isapplied as shown in Figs. 1 and 2; and also open access afforded foradjusting, removing, cleaning, and replacing the direct draught-flue 0,damper-valve c", and the indirect draught-flue 0', (see Figs. 2 and 3,)when the crown A is lifted off. For the convenience of readily supplyingfuel to the fire-cylinder below, a chute, a, provided with a hingedcover, a is secured permanently in the crown, and through this chute thefuel may be readily run down into the cylinder. The curved front of thefire-chamber O is provided with two sliding illuminating windowplates, DD, which, when abutted together at the mid-width of the front of saidchamber, produce a continuous series of illuminating or mica windows, d01, extending from one side to the other of the said fire-chamber. (SeeFig. 1.) The upper edges of these two plates D D slide in a groove, b,made in the under side of the curved front edge of the top plate of thechamber 0, and their 7 lower edges in a like groove, 0 in thecorrespondingly-curved front edge of the bottom plate of said chamber 0,(see Figs. 1, 2, 3, 5 and consequently the said window-plates can bereadily abutted together, as in Fig. l, to close the whole front of thefire-chamber O, or slid apart sufficiently to open nearly the wholefront of the said fire-chamber, as occasion may at any time require anopen fire, or the introduction of fuel through the opening. Immediatelybehind the illuminating plates 1) D the two pairs of shieldplates E Eare arranged to slide in two continuous grooves, 5 5 and 6 6, madeconcentric with the respective continuous groove 0 and b in therespective bottom and top plates of the firechamber 0. Both ends of theplates E of each pair have flanges e, which correspond in width with thethickness of the partition between their respective grooves, and theplates are so arranged in their respective grooves that the flanges ofeach plate of a pair will eventually come in contact alternately witheach other as the plates are pushed or pulled along in their respectivegrooves, when they are being slid along either forward or backward, orright and left, the whole length of their range, in shielding theilluminating window-plates from the dust or smoke of the fuel, or inexposing the windows for the transmission of the light of theincandescent fuel. In pushing the nearer plate backward its full lengthits nearer flange comes in contact with the nearer flange of the innerplate, and thus both pairs E E can be pushed back sufficiently far intothe hot-air chamber B to be out of reach of the fire and to uncover thewhole series of the illuminating windows 61 d,- and in drawing themforward again the inner flange of the nearer plate catches against thenearer flange of the further plate and draws it forward, so that the twopairs of plates E E, when abutted together in front, will shield thewhole series of the windows d d, as before stated. The fire-cylinder F,(see Fig. 4,) rests upon the bottom plate of the hot-air chamber B anddirectly over the grate Gin the usual manner; but it is made about twoinches, more or less, shorter than the space which is between the saidbottom plate and the bottom plate of the fire-chamber O, and the openingin the latter plate for the introduction through it of the cylinder F,which is generally either swelled out between its two ends or madelarger in diameter at its bottom than at its top, is made large enoughto allow the cylinder to be freely passed through it. The annular spaceleft between the said plate and the upper end of the said fuel-cylinderis then closed by a short hollow cylinder, j", which has a flange, f,whereby it rests loosely upon the upper side of the said top plate ofthe hotair chamber B, while its lower or cylindrical part fits insliding contact with the inner side of the upper end of thefuel-cylinder or fire-box in such a manner that the alternatelengthening and shortening of the said fuel-cylinder, consequent uponchanges in its temperature, will be permitted without its causing anyelevation or displacement of the said flanged cylinder f. The perforatedor skeleton screen-plates H H H, forming the wall of the hot-air chamberB, are separate or distinct, and can belifted out and replaced, asoccasion may require, for cleaning out dust, 800., from the hot-airchamber. The upper edge of each plate H is held securely in a deepgroove, h, in the under side of the curved front edge of the top plateof the hot-air chamber B. The lower edge of each plate H is cast withtwo short tenons, 71/ it, (see Fig. 7,) which enter loosely intorespective mortises h h (see Fig. 6) in tha part of the front of thebottom plate of the hotair chamber B which is directly below the grooveh of the plate above, so that by inserting the upper edge of any one ofthe said screen-plates H up into the groove h the tenons h h can bereadily dropped into the corresponding mortises h h, and thus the platesbe securely held in the proper position shown in Fig. l.

I claim as my invention 1. A movable top or crown, A, constructed andapplied to a fire-place stove, substantially as and for the purposeshereinbefore set forth.

2. The two pairs of shield-plates E E, constructed as described, incombination with the two respective upper and lower continuous grooves 55 and 6 6, and arranged to operate therein in relation to theilluminating plates D D, as and for the purposes hereinbefore set forthand described.

3. The movable, perforated, or skeleton screenplates H H H, havingtenons h h projecting from their respective lower edges to correspondwith the respective mortises h h in the front and the top plate of thehot-air chamber or space around the said fuel-cylinder or fire-box,substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth anddescribed.

W. L. MCDOWELL.

' Witnesses S. R. McDow'ELL, W. D. BENNAGE.

